In his first reaction after the Lok Sabha election results, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader and former Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar Tejashwi Yadav on Wednesday slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which fell short of a majority, saying people have voted against ‘dictatorship’. He said “lord Ram has taught the BJP a lesson”.
“The people of Bihar welcomed the issue-based politics that we were talking about like employment. The people of the country have taught a lesson to the BJP which was doing divisive politics and spreading hatred in the society. People have voted against the dictatorship and stopped the BJP to protect the Constitution and democracy,“ Mr. Yadav said at Patna airport before boarding the Delhi flight to attend the meeting of INDIA bloc leaders.
Without naming Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who has emerged as one of the kingmakers, Mr. Yadav put forward three demands before the future government. He said support should be given to the State to remove unemployment, stop migration and set up industries.
“Whoever forms the government, I will urge the kingmaker to ensure that Bihar is granted the status of Special Category State, the 75% reservation we have increased here should be incorporated in Schedule 9 and there should be caste Census in India,” Mr. Yadav said.
Asked if the INDIA bloc would attempt to form the government, Mr. Yadav said “the INDIA bloc is trying”.
On the BJP losing the Faizabad Lok Sabha seat, popularly known as Ayodhya, Mr. Yadav said, “I was saying from day one that politics of hatred is being spread by the BJP. Prime Minister Narendra Modi used poisonous language against the Muslims and today Ram ji has taught him a lesson.”
Praising the performance of his party, Mr. Yadav said the RJD has got the maximum vote share and its numbers were better in comparison to last year’s performance. He said the RJD has lost eight seats in Bihar by a small margin.
Out of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in the State, the BJP and the JD(U) won 12 seats each and the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) bagged five seats. The RJD won four seats, the Congress three and the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) two. The Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) and an Independent candidate won one seat each.
